Latching arrangements for sliding flush doors



T. C. SODDY June 30, 1964 LATCHING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SLIDING FLUSH DOORSFiled June 26, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 T. C. SODDY June 30, 1964 LATCHINGARRANGEMENTS FOR SLIDING FLUSH DOORS Filed June 26, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet3 FIGS.

United States Patent() 3,138,831 LATCHING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SLIDING FLUSHDOORS Thomas C. Soddy, Downers Grove, lll., assignor to AmericanSeal-Kap Corporation of Delaware, New York, N.Y., a corporation ofDelaware Filed June 26, '1961, Ser. No. 119,409 14 Claims. (Cl. Ztl- 23)The invention relates to doors for railway house cars and consistsparticularly in improved locking apparatus for sliding doors of theflush type.

Sliding flush doors are commonly locked in the closed position by offsetlugs, mounted on vertical shafts near the sides of the door andengageable with keepers on the car Wall above and below the door. Doorslocked solely in this manner are likely to bulge outwardly, particularlyalong their vertical edges, if subjected to heavy pressure from thelading of the car; e.g., from grain or other bulk lading. If the doorsare very wide, so that the distance between the locking lugs isproportionally large, the door may bulge along its lower edge.

This problem can be solved by applying additional locking devices to thesides and bottom of the door, but this creates the additional problemthat if the locking shafts and lugs are rotated, so as to initiateoutward movement of the door from its recess in the car side, unless theadditional locking devices have been released, they will be damaged andprobably jammed, preventing operation of the door.

It accordingly is a principal object of the invention to provide asimple, durable, and inexpensive locking means between the verticaledges and bottom edge of a sliding flush door and the correspondingedges of the door opening in the car side wall.

It is a further object to provide common actuation for all edge locks.

It is a further object to provide an interlock between the edge lockmeans recited above and the means by which outward movement of the dooris initiated whereby to prevent actuation of the latter unless theformer is released.

The foregoing and additional detailed objects and advantages areachieved by the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side view of a car showing door structurecomprising a main door and a flush door equipped with edge locking meansembodying the invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view along line 2-2 ofFIGURE l, showing a top view of the locking means.

FIGURE 3 is a view along line 3 3 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 4 is an enlargement of the central portion of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side view of a car showing a single lush doorequipped withe edge locking means embodying the invention.

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal sectional view along line 6-6 of FIGURE 5.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the numeral 1 refers to a car side wall witha rectangular opening 3 therein having a horizontal top edge 5, avertical side edge '7, comprising a post of Z-section, and a horizontalbottom edge, or threshold 9. The right hand portion of opening 3 isclosed by a main door 11 mounted outwardly of the car wall and slidabletherealong on track 13. Main door 11 is held in the closed position bylatch bar 15 which is vertically slidably mounted in spaced brackets 16and 17 on the door, with its lower end adapted for abutting engagementwith stop` element 19 fxedly mounted on track 13. The left hand verticaledge 21 of main door 11 comprises a Z-bar. The left hand portion ofopening 3, defined by top edge 5, vertical edge 7, threshold 9 and maindoor edge 21 is closed by an auxiliary door 23 of the flush type. Door23 comprises a rectangular steel frame having upright members 25 and 26at each side, outer metal sheathing 28, and interior wood lining 30. Theleft hand frame member mounts a hollow rubber gasket 32 on its insidesurface for sealing engagement with the inner flange 33 of the Z-sectionpost 7 when the door is in closed position. Right hand door frame member26 mounts a vertical outwardly extending channel member 35 adapted tounderlie the flange of Z-section edge 21 of the main door and close thegap between the outer surface of the auxiliary door 23 and the innersurface of the main door 11.

Auxiliary door 23 is supported, for movement inwardly and outwardly ofthe opening 3 and lengthwise of the car from and to its closed position,by track 37 mounted on the car side below the door opening, and spacedroller carriages 39 carried by said track and pivotally mounting crankarms 41. At their outer ends crank arms 41 are secured to upright shafts43 which are journaled on door 23 at 45. Crank arms 47 are secured tothe upper ends of shafts 43, and each mounts a rollerl 52 engageablewith guide track 48, which is secured to the car side wall 1 above dooropening 3.

For locking the door 23 in closed position and initiating its movementto open position and completing its movement to closed position, a pairof vertical shafts 49 are journaled on the outer surface of the door asat 51, and mount, at their upper and lower ends, offset lugs 53 whichare received in slotted keepers 55 mounted on the car side wall aboveand below the door opening, when the door is closed. For rotating shafts49 to initiate opening movement of the door and to complete closure ofthe door and fully compress gasket 32, each shaft 49 is provided with ahandle lever 57, pivotally mounted at 58 to swing vertically; i.e.,parallel to the door when the door is closed. When the door is locked inclosed position, the free ends of handle levers 57 rest in an upwardlyopen recess 59 in a bracket 60 mounted on the door intermediateoperating shafts 49.

When door 23 is closed, removal of handle levers 57 from recess 59 isprevented by locking lever 62 which is pivoted to the door at 64immediately above bracket 60, so that its arcuate lower flange 61overlies or closes recess 59 and mates with the concave arcuate uppersurface of bracket 60 to prevent undesired removal of the handle leversand operation of shafts 49. A stop projection 63 on lever 62 engages theleft hand edge of bracket 60 when the lever 62 is in its lockingposition, so as to limit lever 62 to clockwise movement from its lockingposition.

Since the left hand edge of main door 11 overlappingly engages the righthand edge of auxiliary door 23, inadvertent attempts to force the latterout of locked position by operation of handle levers 57 and shafts 49might result in substantial damage to the door structure because ofopposition by the cooperating edges of doors 23 and 11. In order toprevent actuation of handle levers 57 when the main door is in its fullyclosed position, and the damage likely to result therefrom, a safetylatch bar 65 is connected at one end to locking lever 62, with its otherend slidably supported in retainer 67 near the right hand edge of thedoor and abutting the left hand edge 21 of main door 11, so that, whenthe main door is closed, clockwise rotation of lever 62 from its handlelever locking position is prevented. Since stop projection 63 on lever62 prevents counterclockwise movement of lever 62 from its lockingposition, lever 62 cannot be moved in either direction away from lockingposition until main door 11 is f1 moved suiiciently to the right toclear the right hand edge of auxiliary door 23. When this occurs, bar 65is similarly movable to the right, permitting clockwise rotation oflever 62 and consequent release of handle levers 57 from their lockedinoperable position in pocket 59.

Bulging of the right hand edge of auxiliary door 23, throughout itsheight, is prevented by its underlapping engagement with the left handedge of main door 11. For preventing bulging of the left hand and bottomedges of the door 23, respectively, a substantially horizontal bolt 69,slidably mounted in a retainer 71 on the door near its left hand edge isretractably received within a pocket 73 mounted on left hand door post7, and a vertical bolt 75, slidably mounted in a retainer 77 on the dooradjacent its bottom edge and substantially midway between locking shafts49 is similarly retractably received within a pocket 79 on the car wallbelow the door. In the absence of excessive loading against the door,such as by grain, bolts 69 and 75 fit loosely in pockets 73 and 79, butwith excessive loading of grain, these bolts will fit tightly in theirrespective pockets. Bolts 69 and 75 are each pivootally connectedrespectively, by transversely extending bar 81 and substantiallyvertical bar 83, to locking lever 62, so that when lever 62 is rotatedclockwise from its locking position, as permitted by bar 65 bolts 69 and75 will be simultaneously retracted from pockets 73 and 79,respectively, to positions substantially ush with the adjacent edges ofthe door, thus preventing damage which might be caused the structure ifan attempt were made to utilize handle levers 57 to force open the doorwith the bolts in locked position. When grain is unloaded through themain door opening, the internal load on Hush door 23 is reduced, thusreturning bolts 69 .and 71 to their original loose fit in their pocketsand facilitating their retraction by rotation of lever 62.

Another form of the invention is illustrated in FIG- URES and 6, inwhich elements substantially identical to elements shown in FIGURES l4bear the same reference numbers. The numeral 87 indicates a car sideformed with a door opening 89 bounted by Z-section members 91.

Opening 89 is closed by a door 92 having a substantially rectangularmetal frame 93, exterior metal sheathing 95, and an inner wooden lining97, the periphery of the door being relatively shallow and mounting agasket 96 adapted to sealingly seat against the inner flange ofZ-section members 91. The door mounting and operating means aresubstantially identical to that illustrated in FIGURE l and bear thesame reference characters. A bracket 99 on the outer surface of thedoor, midway between operating shafts 49, is formed with a recess inwhich handle levers 57 are received in crossed relationship, and, forlocking them against inadvertent movement out of the closed position, alocking lever 100 is pivoted to the door at 98 above bracket 99 and hasan arcuate ilange 102 adapted to overlie the recess in bracket 99 andthereby prevent inadvertent removal of the handle levers from therecess.

For assuring that the edges of the door will remain in sealingengagement, through gasket 96, with the adjacent car wall structure eventhough urged outwardly by a heavy lading, the door mounts, adjacent eachof its sides, a retainer in each of which is slidably mounted a nearlyhorizontal bolt 105, adapted to be retractably received in registeringpockets 107 on the car wall adjacent the sides of the door opening. Athird bolt 109 is vertically slidably mounted in a retainer 111 near thebottom edge of the door midway between the operating shafts 49 and isretractably receivable in a registering pocket 113 on the car side wallbelow the door. Bolts 105 are both pivotally connected directly tolocking lever 100, and bolt 109 is pivotally connected to locking lever100 by a bar 115, so that bolts 105, 105 and 109 are retracted byrotation of lever 100 from the locking position, so that, wheneverlocking lever 100 is in the unlocked position, whereby handle levers 57are free, bolts 105, 105 and `109 will also be in the retractedposition, thereby eliminating the l likelihood of damage to thestructure by inadvertently using handle levers 57 to force the door openwhen bolts 105, 10S and 109 are locked.

In both embodiments of the invention, the edge locking means areinter-locked with the door operating handle levers 57, so that thelatter cannot be manipulated to force the door out of its closedposition unless the edge locking means are released.

Substantial variations in the details of the construction may be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention, and the exclusiveuse of modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims iscontemplated.

What is claimed is:

l. Door structure for a wall having an opening for a ilush door, a flushdoor in said opening, means carried by said door for initiating outwardmovements of said door and including a lever swingable parallel to thesurface of said door when said door is fully closed and movableoutwardly from said door to initiate outward movements thereof, means onsaid door forming an upwardly open recess receiving and supporting saidlever when the door is closed, a member pivoted to the door and closingthe top of said recess when said lever is supported therein andpreventing undesired removal of said lever, and bar means pivotallyconnected to said pivoted member and extending therefrom toward at leasttwo different edges of said door and movable toward and away from saidedges by rotation of said pivoted member into and out of itsrecess-closing position, at least one of said bar means including a boltslidable substantially normal to the associated edge of the door, therebeing a pocket on said wall adapted to receive said bolt when said dooris closed and said pivoted member is in its recess-closing position,said bolt being retractable from said pocket by rotation of said pivotedmember from its recess-closing position.

2. Door structure according to claim l, in which there are three of saidbar means each including a bolt and extending respectively to both sideand bottom edges of the door, there being pockets on said wall adaptedto receive said bolts when said door is closed and said pivoted memberis in the recess-closing position, said bolts being simultaneouslyretractable from said pockets by rotation of said pivoted member fromits recess-closing position.

3. Door structure according to claim 1 in which another door when closedoverlaps one vertical edge 0f said ush door and is horizontally slidablealong the wall away from said flush door toward an open position, andthe end of one of said bar means abuts said other door and preventsrotation of said pivoted member from the recess-closing position whilesaid other door overlaps said flush door, said one bar means beingmovable in the direction of opening of said other door to permitrotation of said pivoted member from the recessclosing position whensaid other door clears said ush door.

4. Door structure for a wall having an opening for a ilush door,comprising a flush door movable outwardly from a closed position withinthe door opening substantially flush with the wall and closing saidopening, to a sliding position outward of the wall, and for slidingmovement on the outside of said wall to an open position clear of thedoor opening, rotatable upright locking shafts spaced apart lengthwiseof the door and journaled on the door with locking elements at theirends, locking elements on the wall above and below the door opening,said locking elements cooperating to secure said door in closedposition, individual levers pivoted on said shafts to swing parallel tothe door when said door is closed, bracket structure on said doorforming an upwardly open recess receiving and supporting said leverswhen said door is closed, a member pivoted on said door and having asurface adapted to close the top of said recess to retain said leverstherein, and rotatable to permit removal of said levers therefrom, apair of bars each connected at one end to said pivoted member and eachextending therefrom toward an opposite side of said door, said barsbeing movable crosswise of said door, by rotation of said pivotedmember, to and from positions wherein their other ends are substantiallyush with the sides of said door, at least one of said bars including abolt slidable substantially normal-to the associated edge of the door,there being a pocket on said wall adapted to receive said bolt when saiddoor is closed and said pivoted member is in its recess-closingposition, said bolt being retractable from said pocket by rotation ofsaid pivoted member from its recess-closing position.

5. Door structure for a wall having an opening for a ush door,comprising a flush door movable outwardly from a closed position withinthe door opening substantially ush with the wall and closing saidopening, to a sliding position outward of the wall, and for slidingmovement on the outside of said wall to an open position clear of thedoor opening, a rotatable upright locking shaft journaled on said doorwith locking elements at its ends and locking elements on the wall aboveand below the door opening, said locking elements cooperating to securesaid door in closed position, a lever pivoted on said shaft to swingparallel to the door when said door is closed, bracket structure on saiddoor forming an upwardly open recess receiving and supporting said leverwhen said door is closed, a member pivoted on said door and having asurface adapted to close the top of said recess to retain said levertherein and rotatable to permit removal of said lever therefrom, a pairof bars each connected at one end to said pivoted member and eachextending therefrom toward an opposite side of said door, said barsbeing movable crosswise of said door, by rotation of said pivotedmember, to and from positions wherein their other ends are substantiallyilush with the sides of said door, at least one of said bars including abolt slidable substantially normal to the associated edge of the door,there being a pocket on said wall adapted to receive said bolt when saiddoor is closed and said pivoted member is in its recess-closingposition, said bolt being retractable from said pocket by rotation ofsaid pivoted member from its recess-closing position.

6. Door structure for a wall having an opening for a flush door,comprising a flush door movable outwardly from a closed position withinthe door opening substantially flush with the wall and closing saidopening, to a sliding position outward of the wall, and for slidingmovement on the outside of said wall to an open position clear of thedoor opening, a rotatable upright locking shaft journaled on said doorwith locking elements at its ends and locking elements on the wall aboveand below the door opening, said locking elements cooperating to securesaid door in closed position, a lever pivoted on said shaft to swingparallel to the door when said door is closed, bracket structure on saiddoor forming an upwardly open recess receiving and supporting said leverwhen said door is closed, a member pivoted on said door and having asurface adapted to close the top of said recess to retain said levertherein and rotatable to permit removal of said lever therefrom, barseach operatively connected at one end to said pivoted member and eachextending therefrom toward a dilferent edge of said door, said barsbeing movable by rotation of said pivoted member to and from positionswherein their other ends are substantially ush with the edges of saiddoor, at least one of said bars including a bolt slidable substantiallynormal to the associated edge of the door, there being a pocket on saidwall adapted to receive said bolt when said door is closed and saidpivoted member is in its recess-closing position, said bolt beingretractable from said pocket by rotation of said pivoted member from itsrecess-closing position.

7. Door structure according to claim 6 wherein one of said bars extendstoward a side of said ush door and another of said bars extends towardthe bottom of said flush door, there being another door on said wallforming an end of said opening and slidable along the wall away fromsaid tlush door, said one bar abutting the adjacent edge of said otherdoor and being held substantially flush therewith when said other dooris closed and thus preventing rotation of said pivoted member from itsrecess-closing position, there being an upwardly open pocket on the wallbelow said opening registrable with said other bar, said other barextending downwardly from the lower edge of said door into said pocketand being retractable therefrom upon rotation of said pivoted memberfrom its recess-closing position.

8. Door structure according to claim 7 wherein a third bar extendstoward the edge of said flush door remote from said other door, therebeing a pocket on the wall adjacent the corresponding edge of saidopening and registrable with said third bar, said third bar projectinginto said pocket, when said flush door is closed and said pivoted memberis in the recess-closing position, and being retractable from saidpocket by rotation of said pivoted member from its recess-closingposition.

9. Door structure according to claim 7 wherein two of said bars extendfrom said pivoted member toward the sides of said door and a third barextends toward the bottom of said door, said bars being arranged toproject outwardly from the edges of said door when said pivoted memberis in the recess-closing position and being retractable to a positionsubstantially llush with the edges of said door when said pivoted memberis rotated from its recess-closing position there being pockets on thewall at one side and bottom of the door opening registrable with saidbars and adapted to receive the projecting ends of said bars.

10. Door structure for a wall having a door opening, comprising a ilushdoor movable outwardly from a closed position Within the door openingsubstantially flush with the wall and closing a part of said opening toa sliding position outward of the wall and for sliding movement on theoutside of said wall to an open position clear of the door opening, arotatable upright shaft journaled on said flush door with elements atits ends, elements carried by the wall above and below the door opening,said elements cooperating with each other to initiate outward movementof said ilush door from its closed position upon rotation of said shaft,a lever pivoted on said shaft to swing parallel to said flush door whensaid flush door is closed, bracket structure on the door forming anupwardly open recess receiving and supporting said lever when said flushdoor is closed, a member pivoted on said door and having a surfaceadapted to close the top of said recess to retain said lever therein androtatable to permit removal of said lever therefrom, a second doorclosing the remainder of said opening and mounted outwardly of said wallfor sliding movement to an open position clear of the door opening, saidsecond door having an edge portion overlapping an edge portion of saidflush door when both said doors are closed, a bar connected to saidpivoted member and having an end abutting said edge portion of saidsecond door when said doors are closed, to prevent rotation of saidpivoted member, and movable crosswise of said flush door toward saidsecond door when said second door is opened sufficiently to clear theedge of said flush door to permit rotation of said pivoted member fromits locking position, a bolt slidably mounted on the door adjacentanother edge thereof, and a registering pocket for said bolt on saidwall, said bolt being receivable in said pocket when said flush door isclosed, means connecting said bolt with said pivoted member forretracting said bolt from said pocket when said pivoted member isrotated from its locking position.

11. Door structure according to claim 10 in which there are a pluralityof said bolts including one on the bottom and one on the side of saidflush door remote from said second door.

12. Door structure for a wall having an opening for a flush door,comprising a lush door movable outwardly from a closed position withinthe door opening substantially ush with the wall and closing saidopening to a sliding position outward of the wall, and for slidingmovement outside of the wall to an open position clear of the dooropening, a rotatable upright shaft journaled on said door with elementsat its ends, elements carried by the wall above and below the dooropening, said elements cooperating with each other to initiate outwardmovement of said door from its closed position upon rotation of saidshaft, a lever pivoted on said shaft to swing parallel to said door whensaid door is closed, bracket structure on said door forming an upwardlyopen recess receiving and supporting said lever when said door isclosed, a member pivoted on said door and having a surface adapted toclose the top of said recess to retain said lever therein and rotatableto permit removal of said lever therefrom, and a bolt slidably mountedon said door adjacent an edge thereof, and a registering pocket for saidbolt on said wall, said bolt being receivable in said pocket when saiddoor is closed, means connecting said bolt with said pivoted member forretracting said bolt from said pocket when said pivoted member isrotated from its locking position.

13. Door structure according to claim 12 in which there are a pluralityof said bolts including one on each side of said door.

14. Door structure according to claim 13 including a third bolt on thebottom of said door.

Friesell Feb. 5, 1924 Soddy Apr. 5, 1960

1. DOOR STRUCTURE FOR A WALL HAVING AN OPENING FOR A FLUSH DOOR, A FLUSHDOOR IN SAID OPENING, MEANS CARRIED BY SAID DOOR FOR INITIATING OUTWARDMOVEMENTS OF SAID DOOR AND INCLUDING A LEVER SWINGABLE PARALLEL TO THESURFACE OF SAID DOOR WHEN SAID DOOR IS FULLY CLOSED AND MOVABLEOUTWARDLY FROM SAID DOOR TO INITIATE OUTWARD MOVEMENTS THEREOF, MEANS ONSAID DOOR FORMING AN UPWARDLY OPEN RECESS RECEIVING AND SUPPORTING SAIDLEVER WHEN THE DOOR IS CLOSED, A MEMBER PIVOTED TO THE DOOR AND CLOSINGTHE TOP OF SAID RECESS WHEN SAID LEVER IS SUPPORTED THEREIN ANDPREVENTING UNDESIRED REMOVAL OF SAID LEVER, AND BAR MEANS PIVOTALLYCONNECTED TO SAID PIVOTED MEMBER AND EXTENDING THEREFROM TOWARD AT LEASTTWO DIFFERENT EDGES OF SAID DOOR AND MOVABLE TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAIDEDGES BY ROTATION OF SAID PIVOTED MEMBER INTO AND OUT OF ITSRECESS-CLOSING POSITION, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID BAR MEANS INCLUDING A BOLTSLIDABLE SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO THE ASSOCIATED EDGE OF THE DOOR, THEREBEING A POCKET ON SAID WALL ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID BOLT WHEN SAID DOORIS CLOSED AND SAID PIVOTED MEMBER IS IN ITS RECESS-CLOSING POSITION,SAID BOLT BEING RETRACTABLE FROM SAID POCKET BY ROTATION OF SAID PIVOTEDMEMBER FROM ITS RECESS-CLOSING POSITION.